Boise State adds panel to ensure inclusion

Boise State University recently created the Commission on Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) to guarantee everyone a voice on campus.

“Inclusion is the key to leveraging diverse perspectives,” Bob Kustra, the university’s president, said. This includes different layers — status, title, role, ethnicity, gender — any form of identifier. It will be a deliberative and representative effort.”

While the commission will focus more on executive-level actions, members of different entities on campus also will unite to form an advisory board tasked with making sure new ideas and all perspectives are considered at all times.

The commission will be led by co-chairs Gayla Thomas-Dabney, Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action officer, and Donna Llewellyn, executive director of the Institute for STEM and Diversity Initiatives.

The advisory council will be overseen by Prof. Arturo Rodriguez, chair of the Cultural and Ethnic Diversity Board, and Alicia Garza, World Languages faculty member and director of Casita Nepantla.

“We live in a changing world where every chance meeting is an opportunity for creating a global society where everyone is afforded basic human rights, dignity and respect,” Rodriguez said.